Los Muecas 15 Autenticos Exitos CD

'On Mad Hope, we wanted to put out some really different material,' says Blixt. 'Different in the sense of going beyond re-interpreting the great american songbook. That meant writing new material. And beyond that, writing it in a variety of ways, using several odd-meters and different feels, like jazz/funk, latin/world, ballad, and straight ahead jazz. With the dream band we had assembled for the project, we knew the sky was the limit - so we went for it.

'Working collaboratively once again with Arranger/ Producer Frank Martin (Stevie Wonder, Sting, Patti Austin, Angela Bofill, Al Jarreau, and Dori Caymmi), the pair enlisted the top notch rhythm section of Abraham Laboriel (Bass), Jose Neto (Guitar), Alex Acuña (Percussion), Will Kennedy (Drums), and Patrice Rushen (Piano), along with musicians Randy Brecker (trumpet) Sheldon Brown (Bass Clarinet),Paul Hanson (Bassoon), and Kenny Washington (vocals) the album was recorded over two days in November 2007, at Skywalker Studios in Northern California. To say the team had to make a mad dash to complete the record on schedule is an understatement. 'Due to everyone's hectic schedules, we had to be structured to fit in all the work at hand. But I also knew who I was working with and really trusted these musiciansâ€"and knew instinctively I was in great hands to pull it off in two days. I was able to focus on the music, rather than all the extraneous stuff.